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Art and Music Month: Rachmaninoff and Reger

Rachmaninoff: Isle of the Dead

July 10, 9:00 AM

Hear Rachmaninoff’s symphonic poem “Isle of the Dead” after a painting by Arnold Böcklin. Böcklin made several versions of the painting of a white shrouded figure in a row boat, standing before a coffin on approach to the island. Reproductions became widespread, in fact Rachmaninoff is said to have written the 1908 symphonic poem after having seen a black and white etching of the work.

Reger: Four Tone Poems after Arnold Böcklin

July 10, 10:00 AM

The Swiss symbolist Arnold Böcklin was born in 1827 and died in 1901. He is famous for his fantasy and death-inspired paintings. “The Isle of the Dead” is his best-known work. That and three others are depicted in the Max Reger composition: “The Hermit Playing the Violin,” “At Play in the Waves,” and “Bacchanal.”